Shehbaz Sharif urges Turkiye to join CPEC

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has invited Turkiye to join the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to enjoy its benefits like Pakistan.

The PM said that he would be ‘happy’ to discuss the matter with the Chinese leadership if Turkiye moved ahead on the idea of joining the CPEC.

He suggested that Turkiye should join the CPEC to bring about regional prosperity, alleviate poverty and empower the people through better education and health facilities.

The PM, addressing a joint press stakeout along with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul, mentioned that Pakistan had been “experiencing and enjoying” the benefits of the CPEC under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“I would suggest that let this be a cooperation between China, Pakistan and Turkiye. This would be a wonderful joint cooperation. This will bring prosperity and progress to this entire region. This will help alleviate poverty and unemployment. This will certainly empower our poor people. This will promote education and health. This is how we can meet the challenges of today,” the PM remarked.

PM Shehbaz Sharif underlined that in their meeting the two leaders underscored the effective implementation of the trade and goods agreement the two countries had signed in August this year.

He said the trade volume of US $ 1 billion between Pakistan and Turkiye did not reflect the brotherly relations and called for all-out efforts to achieve the target of US $ 5 billion Dollar trade.